England

Hello,

So just got back on the boat from England! It was a splendid time going
to the place where Harry Potter originated. I have to say though I loved
Ireland more. More down to earth people. Top port Galway. People were
more personable it was less big city feeling and I'm more a small
town/smaller city girl. But I will need to come back to hit up a few
more sites as there was not enough time to get to do everything, which I
think is good in a way because then I will have to come back instead of
being like oh I saw it all don't need to go there again. I continually
in my head make plans of what to do after SAS; I can't stop myself from
thinking about going more places & seeing more things. I did hit up a
lot of important sights with some cool people though in England. I
literally the night before England decided to travel with Colleen,
Danielle, & Sarah. (some of the coolest people ever, putting this in
with the hope they see, but they really are cool).
Day 1:
The first day I woke up and we headed on an adventure to Stonehenge. We
got off the boat, walked down a long way through some industry stuff to
get out of the cruise terminal, then on to find an information center
that led us to figure out we needed to catch a bus to get to a place
where we could catch a bus to Stonehenge. (I know kinda complicated, but
it was overall fairly easy). We then walked to the bus station. Caught a
bus to Salisbury (cute little town) where we had lunch at a little
cafe/restaurant called Nuggs. Loved it! I had a cheese toastie (which in
America is equivalent to a grilled cheese) and a Twix milkshake which
was also delicious. Colleen had a Cadbury caramel shake and it was also
delicious from my sip of it. From there we took a tour on a double
Decker bus. We explored Stonehenge & got some pictures and souvenirs. I
got a shirt that says Stonehenge rocks (get it rocks as in actual rocks
or as it is really cool, sorry had to add this even though it is pretty
obvious) and a magnet. From this point on I decided I was going to
collect magnets in every country. I missed getting one in Ireland, but
will find a way to get one on-line or something when I get back home. We
then caught the bus back with a stop at Old Sarum, an old castle on a
hill with a trench built around it. It was cool to see that and how it
was built to wade off intruders. We then hiked back down and caught the
next bus back to Salisbury where we obviously took another bus back to
Southampton where we stayed the night on the ship. It is so great to
sleep in our own bed and get free food (Well more like food I already
paid for, but lets not get started on that discussion. What is important
is I didn't have to pay more).

Day 2
The next morning Colleen and I took the Hogwarts Express to Hogwarts.
Okay we took a bus to Warner Brothers Studios where Harry Potter was
filmed and we took a tour, but for my sake I went to Hogwarts. On the
bus I met Ally (another even more HP fanatic than me) and her, Colleen,
& I shared the back seat of the bus and talked to Kai the tour liason
for SAS the whole time. It was a great bus ride discussing Harry Potter
and people on SAS. Along with all the stupid things some kids do on this
trip. Found out some good gossip and am trying to forget how much money
some people wasted on stupid things like getting wasted every night. I
am not against anyone drinking. I just feel people don't need to do it
every night and that you don't need to drink until intoxication. Well
after the 2 hour bus ride we arrived and from the outside it was just a
large studio like building, but on the inside "secrets were revealed". I
saw the Great Hall and numerous outfits worn by the actors in the films,
and I viewed different rooms and like 1,000+ props from the 8 movies. I
rode a broomstick & got my picture with the London Bridge in the
background. I walked down diagon alley and saw a replica 50 ft Hogwarts
castle, so yes I did go to Hogwarts! I have to say butterbeer was very
delicious. On the way back the bus dropped some of us off near a train
station and from there Colleen and I made our way via the tube (which is
a metro-train) to London after deciding not to go see Platform 9 and 3/4
at Kings Cross since we had to meet Danielle and Sarah. We navigated
(okay Colleen mostly navigated cause I am bad at directions) our way to
the Youth Hostel where we met Sarah & Danielle and preceded to eat at a
little cafe called Gregg's. I had a cheese toastie and amazing lemon
muffin. Over the next 2 days we preceded to eat there at least 5 times.
They just had amazing muffins and free WiFi! Which is a big deal. We
have become pros at finding WiFi in port. After we went to the London
Eye. Got a picture of us all sitting with our arms interlocked looking
at the Eye (We are taking a picture with this pose in every country).
Went & got tickets to see the best view of the city. It was a 30 minute
ride and then we headed back to the hostel. We all went downstairs with
our shower stuff because the light in the bathroom would shut off after
a few minutes and the main door to the bathroom didn't lock. The shower
door and also the toilet door did, but just to be safe we all went
together to block the door & keep the light on. Then it was off to bed.

Day 3

Gonna try to make this short and sweet. Decided to all go with Colleen
to the Paralympics. Ended up with Danielle scalping one and Sarah and I
getting them free from the guards. Met Eugene when we were in the Excel
Center. Watched sitting volleyball, wheelchair fencing, and wheelchair
table tennis. It was an amazing experience. My favorite event was
volleyball because of the crowd. There were little school kids chanting
"GB, GB, GB". I loved the chants and playing finish that song between
matches. Of course 1 Direction came on and we sang our hearts out. "What
makes you beautiful" has become a theme song especially in England for
us. After we left there around 4 o'clock we walked as close to Olympic
Stadium/Park as we could, then tried to find Abbey Road. Found the wrong
Abbey Road (There is more than 1, confusing). Ended up talking in
British accents for a few hours and stopping at King's Cross to get a
picture at platform 9 & 3/4. Sarah asked a worker still in her British
accent "Excuse me, can you direct me to Platform 9 & 3/4". and we found
it! And we also managed to somehow find the actual Abbey Road that the
Beatles walked on and get a picture without getting hit by a car, there
was a few close calls though (can't remember for sure how we ended up
finding it, it was like 5 countries ago, oh ya I now measure time by
countries not days, weeks, or months and since I'm currently writing
this while in Spain it is hard to recall every little detail). Ya we did
some souvenir shopping and got more muffins at Gregg's then went back to
bed at the hostel.

Day 4 (Last Day) (Last Day is generally pretty boring)

Went and saw Buckingham Palace and caught a bus back to Southampton.

Sorry this is so late. Time has been going by so fast. I've been gone
for over a month already! Ahhh! It needs to slow down. There has been
little time between countries to write. Hope everyone back home is well.
And if anyone wants to e-mail me here they can.

Amy